J.J. Pitney

Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed: “Some . . . deny the
existence of evil and others the existence of grace. The art of
politics is to live with the reality of both.” With this comment
in mind, we take a realistic overview of American politics. This
course aims to:

Help you understand past and present political events.

Lay the groundwork for further study of government.

Sharpen your thinking, writing, and speaking.

In addition to providing general background on American politics, this course
also emphasizes certain themes. One is the continuing relevance of the
Declaration of Independence. Since 1776, Americans have argued about its meaning,
particularly the phrase "that all men are created equal."
Another is the central role of religion in America political life.
Tocqueville said that religion is the first of our political institutions, and we shall ponder what he meant by that. A third is the meaning of citizenship and
its connection to deliberation and community service.

Some of the readings are provocative. Do not assume that your professor
agrees with everything in the readings, or that you need to do so. Feel
free to challenge anything you read, but back up what you say.

Classes

Classes will include lecture and discussion. Finish the readings
before class because our discussions will involve those readings.
We shall also talk about breaking news, so you must read a good news source
such as the
RealClearPoliticsor
Politico

Grades

The following will make up your course grade:

One 3-page essay 15%

One 4-page research paper 20%

One 6-page research paper 25%

Final exam 25%

Participation
15%

The papers will develop your
skills in writing, research, and political analysis.
When grading, I do take the quality of writing into account, applying the
standards of Strunk and White. If you object to this approach,
do not take this course – or anything else that I teach.

The final examination will test your
comprehension
of the readings.

In addition to the required readings (below), I may also give you
handouts
and web links covering current events and basic factual information.
The final will cover this material.

Participation includes
your activity in class and online.
I will call on students at random, and if you often miss sessions or fail
to prepare, your grade will suffer. In addition, you may volunteer comments and
questions. This experience will hone your ability to think on your
feet. I expect that you will post comments and other material online
(see below).

As a courtesy to your
fellow students, please arrive promptly and refrain from eating in class.

Carefully check the due dates for papers, as well as the date of the
final exam. Arrange your schedule accordingly. Do not plan
on seeking extensions or make-up work.

Our class blog is at
http://gov20h.blogspot.com. I
shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material there. We
shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your
convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog.
(Please let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I
encourage you to use the blog in these ways:

To post questions or comments about the
readings before we discuss them in class;

To follow up on class discussions
with additional comments or questions.

To post relevant news items or videos.

Remember that the blog is on the open Internet. Post nothing that
would look bad to a potential employer. If you want more confidentiality,
post to the forum on the class Sakai page.

Alexis deTocqueville, Democracy in America,
trans. George Lawrence, ed. J.P. Mayer (New York: Harper Perennial Modern
Classics, [1835/40]).
Please use the Lawrence/Mayer edition, which has gone through several
printings. Other translations have different
wording, which would cause confusion.

Schedule (Subject to change, with advance notice).

In addition to the readings below, I may also supply you with various
handouts and Internet links.

Sept 4: Introduction

"I have a lot of international friends - to them I
ask, do you want to know what America is? It's
this video. Where a
black man and a band made up of Asian men perform a white woman's song so well
that a lady in a hijab takes their card - all in front of an Italian restaurant
and a waving American flag. I love this place!" (See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8Qo-paJ9M) -- Aseem Chipalkatti `15

"[S]ecularists are wrong when they ask
believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public
square. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryan, Dorothy
Day, Martin Luther King — indeed, the majority of great reformers in American
history — were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious
language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not
inject their `personal morality' into public policy debates is a practical
absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it
grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition." --
Barack Obama

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious
harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there . . . in her fertile
fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines
and her vast world commerce—and it was not there . . . in her democratic
Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I
went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with
righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America
is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she
will cease to be great.”
--
Not
Alexis deTocqueville

"If I were king, I would not allow people to go about burning the American
flag. However, we have a First Amendment, which says that the right of free
speech shall not be abridged." --
Justice Antonin Scalia

"You become a better organizer when you understand that there is nothing new
under the sun. All the pitfalls, the problems, the disputes — this is the way
human beings are. Politics is a human science and this guy [Alinsky] understood
that. He was practical. He understood how to get competing factions and
interests and individuals to get in the same room and form what he called a
‘people's organization’ and to move in the same direction to take on city hall."
--
FreedomWorks organizer Brendan Steinhauser

"[D]ivide their county into small districts, and to appoint in each a
subcommittee, whose duty it shall be to make a perfect list of all the voters in
their respective districts, and to ascertain with certainty for whom they will
vote. If they meet with men who are doubtful as to the man they will support,
such voters should be designated in separate lines, with the name of the man
they will probably support." --
Abraham Lincoln, 1840

Ceaser, ch. 4-6.

Nov 11, 13: Federalism and Domestic Public Policy

"THE SUPREME COURT HAS STRUCK DOWN THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE FOR HEALTH CARE" --
CNN, June 28, 2012

"I know that a lot of people have hoped and
prayed for that moment. A lot of people have come from places where they, of
course, did not have freedom. I can empathize with it. I know what they must
feel. I retreat to my own moment, when I was given that. The oath of allegiance
is very emotional to me— also the flag. I saw the flag going up where the
swastika had been flying for years." --
Holocaust survivor Gerda Weismann Klein, reflecting on naturalization ceremonies.

"...New York is not Orange County, Calif., which is to say it is a city densely
populated with affluent liberals who go to dinner parties and denounce the
widening gulf between rich and poor." -- Ginia Bellafante,
New York Times

Murray, prologue, ch. 1-2

Dec 2, 4: Equality II

"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men
who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder
and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many
waters." --
Frederick Douglass

Murray, ch. 3-9

Dec 9, 11: Equality III

"Ultimately, equality of voice is the most important equality issue of all." --
Deborah Stone